Cosmology Cosmology is the study of the origin and evolution of the Universe, addressing the grandest issues: How "big" is the Universe? Does it have an "edge"? What is its large-scale structure? How did it start? How old is it? How long will it live?
Hubble s Discovery In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble used the distance ladder (based on Cepheid variable stars) to measure the distances of about 50 nearby galaxies. This work proved that the Andromeda galaxy was not a part of the Milky Way. Hubble and his staff then measured the redshifts of the galaxies. They were shocked with what they found.
Hubble's Law V = H 0 D H o = 71 km/s / Mpc. Hubble's Data Modern Data The further a galaxy is away, the faster it s moving away from us.
Distance to a galaxy V = H 0 D H o = 71 km/s / Mpc. The receding velocity causes the redshift of spectral lines, which can be used to estimate distances to distant galaxies that follow the Hubble's law: D = V/H 0. e.g., for a galaxy with V =7100 km/s, D=100 Mpc But this is only an estimate on large scales.
Galaxy distribution in the Universe
Hubble Law and Big Bang V = H 0 D H o = 71 km/s / Mpc. The universe is expanding, as if it began in a huge explosion! A big bang! H 0 gives us an estimate of the universe's age since this explosion: t =D/V = 1/H 0 = 14 Billion years. (1 Mpc =3x10 19 km/s; 1 Billion years = 3 x 10 16 s)
What is the big bang? Firework explosion: A center and an edge Isn t this at odds with our notion that Earth isn t special?
The big bang takes place everywhere! The big bang is still going on! The space and time was created with the big bang and is changing!
How big is the universe? If the Universe is infinite, and there is some probability that life happens by chance, how many Astro100 classes, indistinguishable from this one, are currently in session? just the one we re currently in less than 1000 more than 1000 but less than 1 billion an infinite number In an infinite Universe, anything that can happen does happen - an infinite number of times.
Does the universe have an edge? Universe has no edge and no center!
A model universe: two dimensional It is the space that is expanding with time! As the universe expands, the local curvature of space decreases. The distances between galaxies increase. The wavelength of radiation increases and its color shifts from blue to red.
Do you actually see this? You see younger galaxies! The Milky Way
Age = 300,000 years
Does it depend on which direction you look? Does it matter which galaxy you are in?
The Cosmic Microwave Background, Relic of Big Bang Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson (1966)
Cosmic Microwave background
Facts we ve gathered about the Universe so far in this class: It has been expanding for about 14 billion years the rate of expansion depends on the amount of matter in the Universe. Telescopes are time machines and can see back to less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Structure has formed over time and over a large range of scales (people to clusters of galaxies). We also see the relic radiation from an epoch when the universe was only 300,000 years old!
A Few Observations that Lead to the Big Bang Theory The Universe is approximately homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. The Universe is now expanding (and subsequently, cooling).
Homogeneous and isotropic: Three possibilities: Flat Universe (critical case) Close Universe (expands and re-collapses) Open Universe (expands forever)
The Universe as viewed in the Microwave by the WMAP satellite The angular sizes of the structure tells us about the geometry of the Universe, because the real sizes are known. Contrast x 30,000
The most prominent structures are about 1 degree, meaning the Universe is flat
Whether the universe is open, close, or flat depends on how much material is there in the universe For a flat Universe, the mean density of the Universe at the present time must be about 10-26 kg/m 3
Content of the Universe 4% Atoms, 23% Cold Dark Matter, 73% Dark energy. The Universe is flat and is going to expand forever.
Chronology of the Universe The universe is hotter and denser when it was younger Particles in the Universe were moving very fast at early universe and collide frequently, generating various particles The material contain in our bodies was generated in the early universe
SIMPLE
t < 10-43 s The Planck Era Universe is so small, so hot, and so dense that our understanding of physics is unable to describe what is happening. To understand this time (and earlier times) we need to unify our theories that describe electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces, and gravity (the big TOE).
10-43 s < t < 10-35 s The GUT Era Two forces reign: gravity and the Grand Unified Theory (unification of strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces) At this time the Universe is still too hot (T>10 25 K) and dense for us to replicate here on Earth for study. All work done on this time is still theoretical.
The Electroweak Era 10-35 s < t < 10-10 s Now three forces, gravity, the strong force, and the electroweak force. For the majority of this time, the Universe is still too hot (T>10 15 K) and dense for us to replicate here on Earth for study. But late times in the Electroweak Era can now be simulated in high energy particle accelerators, with measurements that are consistent with our theories of what was happening at this time. Elementary particles (quarks, electrons, and their antiparticles) are produced in copious quantities.
The Particle Era 10-10 s < t <.001 s All four fundamental forces (gravity, strong, weak, and electromagnetic) are unique! Particles (both matter and antimatter) are created and destroyed with equal efficiency. At the end of this time, when the Universe cooled to 10 12 K, it was no longer hot enough to spontaneously produce protons and antiprotons. Before this time there were nearly equal numbers of baryons (protons + antiprotons) and photons After this time, for every one billion antiprotons, there were 1 billion +1 protons. - All antiprotons annihilated with protons to produce photons.
Survey Questions What is the hot big bang? What are the key lines of evidence that support the big bang theory? What is the basic mass composition of the universe? What is the fundamental force that drives the structure formation of the universe?
The Era of Nucleosynthesis 0.001 s < t < 3 minutes During this time, hydrogen (the protons left over from the Particle Era) is fused into helium and a small amount of deuterium and lithium. It is a robust prediction of the Era of Nucleosynthesis that 75% of the Universe be left over as hydrogen and the other 25% be helium (plus trace amounts of deuterium and lithium) At the end of this time, the Universe was too cool for any more fusion.
The Era of Nuclei 3 minutes < t < 300,000 years This is the simplest the Universe has ever been and will ever be. All that exists during this time is ionized hydrogen and helium as well as lots of photons. The Universe during this time (and all earlier times) is opaque.
The Era of Atoms and Galaxies 300,000 years < t < 14 billion years Universe is no longer hot enough to keep matter ionized. The Cosmic Background is set free at the beginning of this epoch Somehow, structure formed and here we are.
Observational Evidence for this Crazy Story Besides the observational evidence for the expanding and evolving universe, we have the confirmation of the two key big-bang predictions: 1. The abundances of light elements in the Universe. We really do measure that about 25% of the Universe is helium, about 75% is hydrogen, and we even get the deuterium and lithium right! 2. The Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (blackbody radiation from the era of nuclei)
The Cosmic Microwave Background Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson (1966)
The Universe as viewed in the Microwave by the WMAP satellite This small anisotropy (~ 1/10 6 ) in the CMB, emitted 300,000 years after the Big Bang, represents the small fluctuation Contrast in the matter x 30,000 distribution which provides the seed for the structure formation in the universe.
Structure Formation in the Universe Cosmological Simulations Observational cosmology
Formation of the Large- Scale Structure Due to gravity! Dark Matter Simulation
Formation and Evolution of largescale structure and galaxies Dark matter simulation
Evidence for the Big Bang Expansion of the Universe Origin of the cosmic background radiation Nucleosynthesis of the light elements Formation of structure
Why is the Universe flat: because of Inflation Bill Gates would be as poor as I am if inflation were a factor of 1 trillion
Other Universes
Big Questions What are the dark matter and dark energy? What causes the big bang (inflation)? What, if any, of this should we believe?
Should you believe all these crazy thoughts? You can believe anything you like! But science is not about belief, it's about exploration! We do believe that we will eventually arrive at some reasonable approximation to the truth about nature if we simply keep trying. But once we understand something, it will be a path to a new and deeper puzzle.
A grand summary of this course
Review Questions What is the big bang? What are the key lines of evidence that support the big bang theory? What is the basic mass composition of the universe? What is the fundamental force that drives the structure formation of the universe?